Gujarat went to the polls to elect its parliamentarians
today.On any count, these general
elections will rate as one of the most significant elections in post-Independent
India.At the end of the day, the
two obvious aspects which stand out are : the apathy of the voters (with just
over 40% exercising their franchise in the State) and the fact that issues
related to governance were hardly focused upon either by ruling NDA-alliance or
by the opposition parties.In a
way, the voter had little to choose from.So the poor turn-out is in fact a
vote of no-confidence on all politicians and on a system which has literally
prostituted itself to corruption, criminalization and
communalism.

On May 13th, when the final results are
actually out, will we actually know whether the democratic and secular
traditions of the country would have been delivered a death-blow or whether the
resilience and maturity of the Indian voter would have put India firmly on the
road to greater freedom, justice, peace and equity.

A silver lining, however, for the poor and the
marginalized of Gujarat (and of the country) has been the landmarkjudgment by the Supreme Court on the now
“famous” Best Bakery Case.“ The
modern day‘Neros’were looking elsewhere when Best Bakery
and innocent women and children were burning, and were probably deliberating how
the perpetrators of the crime can be saved or protected.Law and justice become flies in the
hands of these ‘wanton boys’.When
fences start to swallow the crops, no scope will be left for survival of law and
order or truth and justice.Public
order as well as public interest become martyrs and monuments……”, the Supreme
Court stated, as it lambasted the Gujarat Government and other authorities for
its failure to protect the victims.

Indeed, this judgment will go a long way in restoring
hopefully, faith in a system which has been so systematically erodedin the last couple of years by fascist
elements who attempt to control our lives.

In this issue of PRAJAL, we carry two lead editorials
from the National newspapers, to provide our friends an insight into the depth
of this judgment.For those of you
who would like the full text of the judgment, we would be happy to send the same
to you electronically on request.

Finally, we salute the Supreme Court, the National Human
Rights Commission, the Citizens’ for Justice and Peace and all those who are
doing their best, that the perpetrators of the Gujarat carnage are brought to
book.

We skipped an issue ofPRAJAL in January 2004 because of our
involvement with the WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ;so this issue is coming to you after a break of six months.We attempt, once again,to presentto you some of our activities and
involvements during this period.

We continue to place on record our gratitude to the many
who support us and accompany us in our quest for a societybased on Justice, Peace and Human Rights
for all.

April 20th 2004Fr.
Cedric Prakash s.j.

Director

qEditorials on the
Best Bakery Judgment: (we
reproduce here below, editorials which appeared on Wednesday April
14th, 2004, from two of India’s leading English
dailies.)

JUSTICE AT ITS BEST

The Supreme Court order holds out hope that no future
riot will go unpunished !

The import of the historic Supreme Court directive on the
Best Bakery case will be felt long after this particular case runs its
course.By ordering a
reinvestigation into the Best Bakery case, and a retrial outside the state of
Gujarat, the apex court has provided a new model for the delivery of justice in
a situation where the criminal justice system has failed at the local
level.This holds up hope that no
killer – rioter, no perpetrator of mass hate crimes, will escape unpunished in
the future.

The history of riots in this country has been a history
of the miscarriage of justice.Indeed, the counsel for the Gujarat government had once even argued
before the Supreme Court that given the “short comings” in India’scriminal justice system, which has
resulted in rioters being let off the hook for over 40 years, the miscarriage of
justice in the Best Bakery case should really not occasion surprise.His observation had, of course, provoked
a sharp reply from Chief Justice V N Khare at that point, who asked him
pointedly whether that meant that the rioters in Gujarat should also be let
off.Through its latest order the
apex court has signaled its determination to ensure that this will not happen,
not now and not in the future.It
was based on the court’s perception that justice for the victims of the Gujarat
riots cannot be ensured in Gujarat, in a state where-in its memorable words-“the
modern day Neros were looking elsewhere when innocent children and helpless
women were burning and were probably deliberatinghow the perpetrators of the crime could
be protected”.There was enough
evidence before it to indicate that at every stage-from the registration of the
cases, to the gathering of evidence, to the prosecution of the accused, to the
delivering of justice in the courts- there were serious and unconscionable
failures.Its indictment was
thorough and damning.If the
prosecution acted more like the defense counsel,the trial court was “indifferent to
sacrilege being committed to justice” and the high court “miserably failed to
maintain required judicial balance and sobriety”.It held the fanatics who had
perpetrated the violence in the name of religion as “worse that
terrorists”.

There is an important principle that was being reiterated
by the honorable judges here.That
the judicial process cannot be compromised, or allowed to become a casualty to
political agendas, or executive fiat.That justice, ultimately, is not an abstract value but a vital process
that informs public institutions.Now that the highest court in the land has spoken, it is for the state
governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra to respect its order in letter and
spirit.Not only must the Gujarat
police take up the task of reinvestigation and prosecution in right earnest,
witnesses must be given full and fool-proof protection so that justice, although
delayed, is indeed done.-The
Indian Express

WHERE INDIA DOES NOT SHINE

THE SUPREME COURT judgmentordering fresh investigation and trial
in the Best Bakery case and shifting the trial to Maharashtra is the finest
example of the apex court’s restatement of the importance of citizenship; human
rights, the rule of law, the sanctity of the criminal justice system, and the
role and responsibility of the executive.The Best Bakery case, where the lower courts and Gujarat High Court
acquitted 21 persons accused of killing 14, including two small children in the
genocidal ‘riots’ thatfollowed the
Godhra carnage, has come to represent for all of civilized India what Justices
Doraisway Raju and Arijit Pasayat characterised as the “travesty of truth and a
fraud on the legal process.”In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court also ordered the GujaratGovernment to consult the victims and
witnesses before appointing a publicprosecutor,this ought to be
viewed as the severestindictment
of the insolence of the Narendra Modi regime in dispensing justice to the
victims of the 2002 carnage. As significant is the Court’s criticism and
expunction of the remarksmade by
the Gujarat High Court against social activist Teesta Setalvad and the National
Human Rights Commission.The trial
court faredeven worse :it stood as a “silent spectator,
mute to the manipulations and preferred to be indifferent to sacrilege being
committed to justice.”The
re-trial ordered could mark the beginning of a determined effort by the highest
court in the land to insulate the judicial process from political
interference.It could also turn
out to be a new benchmark for trial of criminal cases against members of the
ruling establishment, where there is no independent investigation or prosecution
and the rule of law is subverted.

Despite the damning judgment, political reaction from the
ruling camp have been predictable. While Law Minster Arun Jaitley does not
perceive the judgment as a comment on either Chief Minister Modi or the Gujarat
Government, Finance Minster Jaswant Singh views it as an indictmentof the Gujarat Government but not of the
BJP.This insouciance comes in the
face of the characterization of the State administration by the judges as
“modern day Neros” –choosing to look the other way while women and children were
being burnt with a premeditated purpose and systematically targeted.Given the fact that the BJP’s top
leadership has recently sought to relegate the post-Godhra violence to the
category of the “unfortunate”.It
is unlikely that the Supreme Court’sindictment will produce any real expression of remorse or contrition.

While the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Best Bakery
case exemplifies the restoration of the primacy of citizens’ rights against the
indifference and arbitrariness of state apparatuses, justice still waits to be
done on an extensive scale in Gujarat.Consider these statistics of the post Godhra riots: Naroda Patiya –
91-200 killed, women raped; Chamanpura, Gulberg Society-40-65 killed, including
ex.M.P. Ehsan Jaffrey; Odh Village – 29 burnt alive in one incident; Radhikpur
village-20 known dead, several women raped and killed; Fatehpura – womenraped and forced to walk naked to the
police station; Sardarpura Village-33 dead, 29 in one house; Anjanwa Village-11
known dead, women and children thrown into a well; and finally Geetaben, whose
only crime was to have tried to save a Muslim.These are just a few
examples.As long as justice is not
done in all such cases, the events of February-March 2002 in Mahatma Gandhi’s
home State will weigh on the conscience of every responsible Indian
citizen.Until then, there is no
question of India shining.-The
Hindu

qRICEISLIFE

The UN has designated the year 2004 as the International
Year of Rice.

This Centre
also supports several developmental activities and programmes all over
Gujarat.A good percentage of these
are land-related eg. Water-shed Management and Agricultural Development.Since Rice is staple to so many of our
people (very specially the poor and the marginalized), we highlight here below,
some dimensions of this International Year of
Rice.

·Mission Statement:

The International Year of Rice (IYR) promotes improved
production and access to this vital food crop, which feeds more than half the
world's population while providing income for millions of rice producers,
processors and traders. Development of sustainable rice-based systems will
reduce hunger and poverty, and contribute to environmental conservationand a better life for present and future
generations.·The Theme
:

The theme of the IYR - "Rice is life"- reflects the
importance of rice as a primary food source, and is drawn from an understanding
that rice-based systems are essential for food security, poverty alleviation and
improved livelihoods. Rice is the staple food of over half of the world's
population. In Asia alone, more than 2 billion people obtain 60 to 70 percent of
their energy intake from rice and its derivatives.Rice-based production systems and their
associated post-harvest operations employ nearly 1 billion people in rural areas
of developing countries and about four-fifths of the world's rice is grown by
small-scale farmers in low-income countries. Efficient andproductive
rice-based systems are therefore essential to economic development and improved
quality of life, particularly in rural areas.There are about 840 million
undernourished people, including more than 200 million children, in developing
countries. Improving the productivity of rice systems would contribute to
eradicating this unacceptable level of hunger.·Challenges and opportunities

¨Improving food security and nutrition.Although rice is a rich
source of energy and protein, it has an incomplete amino acid profile and
contains limited quantities of essential micronutrients. Nutrition can be
improved by better rice processing and cooking techniques, the use of rice
varieties withhigh nutritional
values, and the fortification of rice with vitamins and minerals (e.g. through
applying food technology). Food security can be enhanced by promoting
complementary crops, livestock and fisheries activities within rice-based
systems. IYR can help countries develop the infrastructure to support the
responsible utilization of biotechnology. It can also increase awareness of the
need to support the diversity of rice varieties to reduce genetic vulnerability
and to enhance both rice productivity and quality. Diversity in rice-based
systems greatly contributes to rural income and complete nutrition in a more
balanced diet.¨Enhancing the productivity of rice-based systems.

It also requires improved national capacity, through
training and information exchange, and the national-level transfer of
safety-tested new technologies to the field.¨Managing
water resources.

There is growing concern about the sustainability of
global water resources. Water scarcity can be addressed by reducing the quantity
of water required (through developing new rice varieties or improved irrigation
systems) or by recycling water through multiple uses. The cultivation of rice in
low-water regimes will lead to changes in water and nutrient management,
cropping patterns and tillage practices. IYR can help improve understanding of
the costs and benefits of water use in rice-based systems (e.g. the diverse life
forms that such systems sustain). Technological developments and management
interventions will also be required.¨Environmental protection.

Environmental concerns in rice
production include indiscriminate use of pesticides, inefficient use of
fertilizers, and emissions of greenhouse gases. At the same time, rice-based
ecosystems host a wealth of biodiversity, and the majority of the planting
material used by poor farmers is derived from seeds that they produce themselves
and that represent generations of local genetic resources. IYR can spread
awareness of the importance of preserving biogenetic and natural resources and
can help stakeholders exchange ideas on environmental issues, challenges and
opportunities.

PRAJAL encourages all its readers to
make this year as worthwhile as possible and very specially to focus on aspects
like food security and the food rights of poor and marginalized communities all
over.

qBOOKS AND DOCUMENTATION :

The Documentation Centre in Prashant continues to grow in
leaps and bounds.With over a
thousand volumes of books,innumerable paper clippings and a host of other resources, easily puts us
as one of the most valuable Resource Centreswhich focus on Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.It is
therefore very natural thatresearchers, scholars, activists and even the cursory reader, make great
use of this Centre.We also provide
regular information to other significant institutions and organizations all over
the world.

Besides, during the past months, we regularly update four
electronic bulletin boards which provides important information to various
groups on current happenings in Gujarat and in other parts of India.If you wish to be placedon one or more of them, just send us an
email requesting us to put you on the mailing list.From this issue onwards, we carry
special reviews on one of the other resources which we have acquired.The book “Globalization, Hindu
Nationalism and Hindutva”:by Dr.
Lancy Lobo is an excellent work which must be read by all who are interested in
understanding the various forces that are at work in the country today.Apart from having a library edition, we
also have a few copies for sale.

The politics of hatred in India today has yielded an
abundant harvest, and the future of justice, equality, democracy and secularism
appears bleak.When many people
have absolutely no clue as to what is going on, there is all the more reason to
be grateful to Lancy Lobo for giving us a concise description of the turbulence
which affects India today.

Lancy Lobo, former director of the School of Social
Studies, South Gujarat University (Surat), and presently director of the Centre
for Culture and Development, Vadodara, has written a slim book but one packed
with data, statistics and well-reasoned arguments.For many of those ignorant of the
reasons behind the present state of the country, it is a valuable
guide.

Lobo argues that the present state is the result of two
dominant processesat work
simultaneously in the country.The
first is globalization, of which there is increasing evidence that it has lead
to a “cultural backlash”.

The backlash in India is a form of “cultural nationalism”
or Hindutva, which is the second dominant process.Hindutva glorifies the Hindu state, and
tries desperately to mould the pluralistic identities of the Indian nation into
one monolithic whole.In brief,
“Hindu nationalism”means one Hindu
nation, one Hindu culture, and one Hindu state.

Here in India, globalization both attracts and repels the
large Hindu middle-class.The
attractiveness lies in the access to global capital and technology, and to
global consumerism, the hallmark of the First World.The fear comes from “losing one’sroots,”particularly the loss of caste, a
particularly Brahmin anxiety.

“Christians” are the third term in the title of Lobo’s
book, and he examines carefully how the two dominant processes impinge upon this
group.

Christians in India are a small minority, yet they run 25
per cent of India’svoluntary
service sector (schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages) and the beneficiaries
of these services belong to all casts, creeds and
cults.

Today, for various reasons, this small community has come
under threat.Various forms of
discrimination and hostility are meant to create a state of fear and obeisance
among Christians, and the Hindutva forces are
succeeding.

The fear of the Christian Community is very real – there
is growing discrimination against them.But this discrimination does not affect the hierarchy, who continue to
enjoy the patronage of the Hindu establishment for the institutional activities
donein their
favour.

Because of this, there is a reluctance among the Churches
to criticize the government publicly, to cooperate with each other; and a
slownessto reach out to secular,
humanist and non-Christian groups.

And yet without such participation both within the Church
and without, is the community not extremely vulnerable ?

qA Communicating Church in India
:

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) met for
their26th General Body
Meeting in Thrissur, Kerala from January 7th to 14th
2004.The main theme of the
meetingwas “Church and Social
Communications”.At the end
of the meeting, the Bishops of India issued a Final Statement entitled
“Called to be a Communicating Church”.The Statement asserts that “we need to
motivate all our Church personnel to actively participate in the new
opportunities created by media and information technology to share the Good News
and spread the Kingdom of God by fighting the menace of crime, corruption and
communalism”.

As a Secretariat for Social Communications of the CBCI
Western Region Council, we have been quite involvedin various issues related with our
mandate during these past months.A
highlight has been the annual meeting organized by us for representatives from
the fourteen Dioceses at Ishvani Kendra, Pune from February 28th to
1st March 2004.A
detailed report of this meeting will be sent on
request.

Bal Vividha is an educational resource
festival that celebrates alternative approaches to learning.Created by Comet Media Foundation in
Bombay, it brings together educationists, NGOs and media people in a festive
environment to make an exciting event for children and
adults.

The festival consists of :

Interactive corners where children can learn through
hands-on activities

Learning workshops for teachers, NGO workers, parents and
childrenwhere leading experts will
pass on their skills and insights

A film festival, bal chitrapat mela featuring a
selection of children’s films

A night sky programme at the mini-planetarium put up by
the Nehru Planetarium

An amphitheatre with open-air performances by children
and adults who work for children

For three days 14th to 16th
February 2004, the grounds of St. Xavier’s School, Bhiloda, throbbed with unique
activitiesas more than 10,000
children drawn fromalmost 80
schools and other institutions from Sabarkantha and elsewhere, celebrated“Bal
Vividha”.

The “Bal Vividha” in Bhiloda had over 20 interactive
corners where children could learn through hands-on activities conducted by
well-known Educational Institutions and NGOs from Gujarat and Bombay.There was an amphitheatre “Rang Manch”
with continuous shows:puppets,
street-plays, karate, magic, etc.There was a film festival which provided a variety of films for children
and the adults.There were
workshops for teachers and adults on issues like“Panchayati Raj” and on the teaching of
Maths.

The Bal Vividha was inaugurated by the DSP of Sabarkantha
in the presence of the Provincial Fr. Jerry and a host of other
dignitaries.At the end of the
three days, the participants were unanimous about the value of such an event and
hope that it would continue in future.

With the effort of Frs. Valerian Dias, Cosmas Isaac and
theBhiloda Jesuit Community, it
was a memorableevent for all
concerned.The Bal Vividha was also
a tribute to Fr. Ignacio Ordonez s.j.in his Diamond Jubilee Year as a Jesuit, 33 of which have been spent in
the Sabarkantha District.

The team of the Province Office for Integral Social
Development (POISD)/ PRASHANT
facilitated the entire programme and hope to bring Bal Vividha to some of our
other centers in the coming months.

qResistance 2004 :

Resistance 2004 brought togetherpersons,
organizations and other fora committed to democracy and pluralism from all
across the country for a daylong conference on April 4th 2004.The conference emphasized the need
and importance that every citizen needs to take sides in a unified civil-society
action to prevent the fascist forces from gaining an upper hand in the
country.More information on
Resistance 2004 can be had from Mr. Apoorva Anandat: resistanceever@yahoo.co.in

qChristian bashing goes on…….:

Christian bashing goes on in several of the BJP ruled
States in the heartland of India…….

On January 13th, in the wake of the brutal
rape and murder of a 9 year old girl in the compound of the Catholic Mission
School of Jhabua and the subsequent anti-Christian violence-the Vicar-General of the Diocese contacted‘ PRASHANT ‘for help.PRASHANT immediately alerted the
National Human Rights Commission and other International bodies like Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, Hotline Asia, since the situation therewas getting out of hand.Fortunately, due to outside
intervention, greater tragedies were prevented.

Bishop Thomas Macwan together with a team from Ahmedabad
Diocese later paid a solidarity visit to Bishop Chackoof Jhabua Diocese.On the suggestion of Bishop Thomas, the
Director of PRASHANT was invited to visit the Jhabua Diocese to assess the
situation and to provide some kind of orientation to key personnel in the
Diocese.

Accordingly, a visit was paid to the Jhabua Diocese on
the 18th and 19th of March.The first stop was at Alirajpur which
was a scene of violent anti-Christian attacks and alsowhere Fr. Stany Fereira SDB was very
badly beaten up.At a meeting with
several Christian leaders cutting across all denominations, one could feel the
fear and anxiety among the Christians.Most were afraid to walk in town alone and both the Sisters and theFathers had curtailed their visits to
the neighboring villages.

A model watershed programme by the Salesians on the
outskirts of Alirajpur was laid waste beyond recognition and a lot of the hard
materials (pipes, wire-fencing, etc.) were stolen by the truck-load-obviously by those hostile to such work.

In the Christian dominated town of Jobat, one experienced
the pain and trauma of a woman who was brutally raped by important functionaries
within the Hindu- fundamentalist fold and was unable to find justice inspite of
having gone from pillar to post.

In the Bishop’s House in Meghnagar a whole cross-section
of the Diocese (mainly lay persons) had gathered for a whole day orientation on
March 19th.All
the participants were unanimous in expressing :

fThe fact that their ground reality was very
serious

fThat most Christians lived in fear and
intimidation

fThat something must be done in a strategized yet cohesive
way to respondto the onslaught of
the

fundamental
forces

Several important suggestions emerged from the
participants and the Diocese now seems to have made a resolve to do something of
the emergence of the fascist forces in the Dioceseand other parts of Madhya
Pradesh.

Early in April, the Director was invited to conduct an
Orientation Seminar on “Political Communalism : A Threat and Challenge to the
Church” by the Diocese of Raigarh in Kunkuri.Almost 300 representatives of the
Diocese took part in the Seminar.During this trip, there were also meetings with Cardinal Telesphore Toppo
of Ranchi, Jharkhand and Bishop Michael Minj of Gumla to discuss and assess
growing fundamentalism in the tribal belt.

qWORLD SOCIAL FORUM :

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a response of the growing
international movement that is challenging capitalist-led globalization and the
neo-liberal economic policies pursued by most countries.Firmly committed to the belief that
Another World Is Possible , the WSF is an open space for discussing alternatives
to the dominant neo-liberal processes, for exchanging experiences and for
strengthening alliances and building coalitions among mass organizations,
people’s movements, NGOs and other organizations.

Since its inception in 2001, the World Social Forum was
held in Porto Alegre, Brazil.About
20,000 people participated in the first WSF.55,000 people attended WSF 2002.WSF 2003, with about 100,000
participants, came to symbolize the strength of the anti-globalization movement
and became a rallying point for the worldwide protest against the invasion of
Iraq.

Sailing out of Latin America for the first time, the WSF
anchored in the heart of Asia for the fourth edition held in the city of Mumbai
from 16th to 21st January 2004.

The WSF is not an event held just once a year.It is a process of coalition building
that is deepening its roots across the world.There have been continental and
sub-continental forums (African, Asian, European, and Pan-Amazonic), local and
national forums (Belgium,Colombia,
Greece, Portugal Sweden and many other countries) and thematic forums on
Argentina and the crisis of neo-liberalism, on Palestine and the peaceful
resolution of conflict and democracy, human rights and war.

The PRASHANT Parivar was totally involved in the WSF at
the actual, preliminary and the post-stages.We became part of SAPI (South Asian
Peoples’ Initiatives) initiated by JESA (Jesuits engaged in Social Action).

We were also deeply involved in the SOOF Patchwork
Tapestry Corner.This WSF event was
symbolic of the confluence and dialogue of the WSF, an immense Patchwork
tapestry of textile squares with images and messages from all over the world is
being stitched together at the venue, to be draped on the stage at the closing
evening.The word soof
meanspatchwork, and it recalls the
robes of the soofis who made patchwork garments from discarded
clothing.It also connected to the
idea of recycling used materials, of not wasting resources.

Besides, PRASHANT team members actively participated in
various programmes during the WSF.The Director in particular participated in the following :

On December 17th the PRASHANT Governing Body
met under the Presidentship of Fr. Jerry Sequeira, the Provincial,to review the working of Prashant
and to “look ahead”.Besides the
Provincial, the members of the Governing Body are Fr. Jose Changanacherry, Fr.
Dinesh Braganza, Fr. M. Gnanaraj, Fr. Lancy Lobo, Fr. Francis Parmar,Fr. J.L. Arana and Fr. Cedric
Prakash.PRASHANT also has a wider
Advisory Body consisting of several Eminent
Citizens.